When a friend is in need
by Jennifer M. Serrentino
Summary: this is about an old high school friend of Kayla, Kim and Hope's that has recently come back into their lives. This is my first FanFic, so please be nice and write me nice reviews! If it sucks, then let me know and I'll take it down, if not, I'll update.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Christmas, 1991

She sat at her window, looking outside at her brothers and sisters playing in the snow. She smiled as her oldest brother picked up her youngest sister and placed her on his shoulders, twirling around in circles.

She was distracted by an infant crying. She turned around to look at the cribs against the wall behind her. She sighed softly and got up from her rocking-chair, walking over to one of the cribs and reaching down. She slowly and gently started rubbing her daughter's stomach, softly humming a lullaby to soothe the baby. The baby slowly stopped crying until she was back to sleep.

Emily sighed. "Thank God," she thought to her self, "that was too easy." She glanced at the clock on the night stand and sighed. It was almost 2 o'clock, her boyfriend was supposed to be there half an hour ago to pick her and the kids up to go to his parents house for Christmas dinner. "Where is he?"

Just then her cell phone rang. It was on vibrate so that it wouldn't wake up the babies and it fell onto the floor. Emily rushed to pick it up and saw that it was coming up Ray's name. She stepped out into the hallway so that she didn't disturb her sleeping children and opened the phone, saying, "Hey, where are you?"

"Emily? Is that you?"

"Katie? Why are you calling me on Ray's phone?"

"He left it here by accident, is he there yet?"

"No, why would I ask 'where are you?' if Ray was here. Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I was just wondering if he was there so I could tell him that he left his cell at home again." Katie said.

"Katie, I love you like a sister, especially since you're my best friend and my kids' aunt, but you do know that you're a horrible liar, right?"

"I'm insulted! How dare you tell me the truth when you know it hurts?!?"

Emily resisted the urge to laugh and said, "Katie, what are you hiding from me?"

"She's hiding nothing," said Ray, coming up behind Emily, making her squeal.

"Ray! What are you doing!?"

A high-pitched screaming filled the air. "Good job Emily, you woke up the babies!" Ray teased. He laughed and ducked away from Emily as she swung at him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, kissing her full on the mouth. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said. "Now go comfort your daughter, she's screaming her head off."

Ray smiled and walked into the nursery. He reached over the bar into the crib and picked up his daughter Tessie. He kissed her on the forehead and started rocking her in his arms. He laughed gently as he listened to Emily try and pry the secret out of Katie on the phone. He knew his sister was a horrible liar, but she could also keep a secret. And the secret she was keeping was a BIG one.

Emily walked into the room and smiled at Ray. She remembered the day that she had told him that she was pregnant. She had been so scared that he was going to deny the babies were his and leave her to raise them on her own, especially since they had both only just turned 21 a few weeks earlier and they weren't married. They weren't engaged, either, or even thinking about getting married when she had found out. She remembered that Ray had freaked out when she told him, but he had never once denied that they were his or even questioned her about it, which had actually surprised her, a little. After the initial shock had worn off, he had started to get excited about the babies and started making up lists of what they were going to need to get and names for both boys & girls. He had, of course, hoped for a boy, but had told Emily from the beginning that either way he would be happy as long as she and the babies were healthy and happy.

Emily flashed back to the present when her other daughter, Dakota, began to cry. She walked over to the other crib and picked up the baby. She smiled and the baby stopped crying. "Mama," the baby cooed.

"Oh my god! Ray! Dakota said, 'Mama!'" Emily exclaimed.

"She said what?" Ray walked over and looked at Dakota, "c'mon Dakota, say it again. Say Mama."

"Dada," Tessie gurgled.

Now Ray and Emily looked at Tessie. "Oh my god!"

The two of them danced around with the babies, trying to get them to talk again.

Emily's mom, Sarah, poked her head in and started laughing when she saw what Ray and Emily were doing. "What's all the commotion about?"

Emily walked over to her mom, "Mum, the girls are talking! They said Mama and Dada!"

"I know, they've been talking all week," Sarah said calmly.

"WHAT!" Ray and Emily exclaimed.

"Yeah, didn't Scott tell you that?"

"No!" Emily exclaimed. "I'm gonna kill my little brother."

"Oh, no you're not. It's Christmas. Wait until tomorrow," Sarah said as she put down the laundry that was in her arms. She took Tessie from Ray's arms and started rocking her gently, "Now all's we gotta do is get them to say 'Nana'."

"Nah, we'll get them to say, 'Grandma'." Emily joked as she ducked away from her mom.

"No, I'm not Grandma, I'm Nana," Sarah said "my grandmother was Grandma, my mother is Grandma, I am NOT gonna be called Grandma. It makes me feel old."

"But, mom, you are old." Emily smiled and held Dakota in front of her. "Be careful, Mum, I'm holding one of your precious granddaughters. You wouldn't want me to drop her because I'm defending myself from her Nana."

Sarah smiled and said, "Girl, you better be glad that it's Christmas. That's all's I'm gonna say."

Emily grinned and then looked at her watch, "Uh oh, we're late. Okay Ray, get Tess into her outfit that I put out for her and then into her snow suit. I'll get Dakota ready."

"Okay, no prob." Ray took Tess back from Sarah and started to get her dressed.

Fifteen minutes later the girls were changed, dressed and ready to go. Emily and Ray got their coats on and then picked up the girls carriers and walked out to the car. They got the girls buckled in and then headed on their way to Ray's parents' house.

As soon as they walked into the house they were bombarded with relatives. Most of Ray's relatives had not seen Emily since the Christmas before when she was still pregnant, so they were all very excited to see her and the babies. Tess and Dakota were absolutely delighted with all of the attention they were getting, and were cooing and giggling at everyone around them. They were used to being around lots of people, seeing as how both their mother and their father had four siblings each and were constantly being babysat by them when their parents were at class or work.

Emily picked up Tess and took her out of her snow suit, sitting her down on the couch. Ray placed Dakota down next to Tess after he had done the same thing. Ray plopped down on the couch next to his girls and started playing with them while Emily went into the kitchen to get them their bottles. She came back into the room and handed each of the girls a bottle. She then sat down next to Ray and picked up Tess. She held her in her arms and fed her the bottle. She was looking down into her daughter's eyes when she realized that everyone was looking at her. She looked up and then realized that Ray was bent down in front of her on one knee. "Oh!" she gasped.

"Emily, I love you more than life itself. You are the mother of my children and I couldn't be happier to have them in our lives. Please make me the luckiest and happiest man on the planet and marry me." He opened the black velvet ring box he was holding and looked deep into Emily's eyes. "Emily Tess Cassidy, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?" He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger.

Emily sat there, speechless. She looked around and saw Ray's parents and her parents standing in the doorway to the kitchen smiling and crying. She looked at the gorgeous ring on her finger and gasped. It was a three stone ring, a 1 carat diamond with two aquamarine stones on either side of it. Emily looked back up at Ray and smiled the biggest smile she had ever smiled in her life. "Of course I'll marry you!" she exclaimed.

Ray gently took Tess out of Emily's arms and placed her on the couch next to Dakota, and then wrapped his arms around Emily. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she whispered back. She looked around her until she found Katie. "Katie, come here please." Katie walked over and gave her best friend a hug. "Is this what you were keeping from me?" she asked.

"Yup." Katie laughed and said "Congratulations, honey. Now we really are going to be sisters!"

"Oh boy, now I'm really in trouble," Nancy, Ray and Katie's mom, said. "Another daughter! Oh well, she was practically one of mine her whole life anyways, why not make it official?" Nancy walked over to Emily and said, "Welcome to the family sweetheart." She gave her a hug.

"Thanks, 'Mom'," Emily joked. Emily had called Nancy Mom ever since her and Katie were little kids and had become friends. In fact, Nancy was called Mom by all of her kids' friends. She wasn't really sure why, but she had always just accepted it and gone along with it.

Emily turned to Ray and said, "Is this why you were late? You had to go pick this up?"

"Yeah, it was delivered to my sister's house and I wanted to go get it from her since I didn't trust her to not forget it."

"Hey! I wouldn't have forgotten something like that!" Katie defended herself.

"I know, but I felt better having with me. It is a very expensive and very special ring and I would have been livid if anything happened to it." He took Emily's hand and pointed to the ring. "The aquamarine stones represent the girls, since they were born in March and that's their birthstone." He kissed Emily's fingers and said, "And that big rock stands for the four of us, as one whole unit."

Emily felt tears welling up in her eyes again and said, "You really know how to romance a girl, don't you?"

"But of course I do," he replied, "You taught me everything I will ever need to know a long time ago."

"True, very true," she said as she smiled and kissed Ray on the lips. "I love you and I absolutely love my ring."

"Good, because it's the only one you're ever gonna get."

"That's what you think!" Emily laughed, "I'm gonna make you go broke from buying me diamonds. This is, of course, after we put the girls through school and pay for their weddings."

"Of course, and then our retirement fund can go towards buying you your diamonds."

"But of course," Emily said. She leaned back against the couch and admired her new ring. It was absolutely gorgeous and Emily was shocked at how much thought and money must have gone towards it. Ray said that he had had it specially designed and Emily knew that when that was done, no matter how small the stones were, it was expensive. "Hey, Ray, where did you get the money for this? I mean, I don't want to know how much it cost, because I'll kill you if I ever find out, but how and where did you get this kind of money?"

"I took out a loan. My credit is awesome and I was approved on the spot," Ray explained.

"It cost so much you took out a loan? Oh god, this must have cost you a fortune!" Emily exclaimed.

"No, babe, it didn't. Just trust me and don't ask about it again ok?" Ray asked.

"Okay, as long as you're sure and not lying to me."

"I'm sure. Now please, stop being nosy and just enjoy the ring. For me," Ray said.

"Okay," she kissed him again and then leaned into his arms, "now all's we have to do is set a date."

"Um, let's wait for another day to set the date. Right now, let's just enjoy being engaged and put off the craziness of planning a wedding a little longer. It is Christmas after all. Let's just have fun today."

"Fine," Emily agreed. She picked up Tess and put her on one knee and then put Dakota on the other knee. "I love you, girls. You two are going to be the prettiest flower girls ever." Katie pushed her brother into the corner of the couch and sat down next to Emily. The girls then started talking about wedding plans and designs for the bridal gown and the bridesmaid gowns and everything else that girls talk about when it comes to weddings. Ray got up and went to go talk to his brothers and soon-to-be brother-in-laws. They all congratulated him and shook his hand.

Scott, Emily's brother, handed Ray a beer and said, "Here, you're gonna need this. You're marrying one of the biggest shopaholics in the world."

"Trust me, I know. I've been with your sister since we were 17. That girl knows how to spend her money. Thank God she knows how to bargain hunt though; otherwise I'd be in real big trouble when it comes to the wedding dresses."

"Yeah, I'll give her credit for that," Billy, Emily's other brother, said, "she learned that from Mom."

"Learned what from me?" Sarah asked. She had just come from congratulating Emily and hugged Ray, saying, "You better take care of her and those girls, I'll come after you if you don't."

"I will, don't worry," Ray assured her.

"I'm her mom; it's my job to worry. You know what that's like, constantly worrying about your kids."

"Yes I do," Ray agreed. "The girls may only be 9 months old, but I worry about them 24/7. I don't think I'll ever stop worrying about them."

"Ok, so back to my question: What did Emily learn from me?" Sarah asked.

"How to bargain hunt while shopping," Billy said.

"Oh yeah, that she definitely learned from me and your grandmother."

"Yeah, no kidding," Scott said. Sarah swung at him to hit him on the arm and he jumped out of the way, chuckling. "Come on, Mom, no hitting. It's Christmas."

"Yeah, yeah, just wait until tomorrow, then I'm gonna getcha," Sarah joked. She wrapped an arm around Scott and kissed the side of his head, saying, "Because no matter what, I'm your mother and I will always be able to getcha."

"Yeah, I know," Scott replied.

Across the room, Emily was sitting on the couch with her two sisters, Theresa and Lily, Katie and Amy, Ray's other little sister. Katie was holding Dakota in her lap while Tess was in Emily's and they were all talking about the wedding and what color dresses they were going to be wearing as bridesmaids. "I think we should wear pink," Amy, who is 13, said, "I love the color pink,"

"Amy, I love you dearly, but I'm not having my bridesmaids wear pink," Emily said. Theresa, Lily and Katie all breathed sighs of relief. "I was actually thinking of doing a light yellow or a periwinkle blue."

"What's periwinkle?" Amy asked.

"It's a bluish-purple, it's actually very pretty. One of my prom dresses was that color," Lily said.

"Oh," Amy said. "I know what you mean. That is a pretty color. I still like pink better."

"Yeah, I know you do kiddo, but it's not going to happen. I've been in a wedding before that had pink dresses and it just didn't work for me. Sorry," Emily explained.

"Where do you want to go for your honeymoon?" Theresa asked.

"Ray and I had talked abut it before and I think that we're going to go to Hawaii. We're both big history buffs and want to see Pearl Harbor. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii anyways, it's just been a dream of mine since I was little," Emily said.

"Well, we're just gonna have to get you an itty-bitty bikini then, and some really sexy lingerie for this trip," Lily said.

"Yeah, that ought to be fun with two toddlers running around," Emily said.

"Girl, you are not bringing your kids with you on your honeymoon," Katie said. "I am invoking my rights as godmother and going to take these two munchkins off your hands for you. How else are you guys going to make more babies for me to play with?" Katie smiled at Emily.

"Yeah, I would like some nephews someday," Lily said, chuckling.

"Hey, you get what you get; you don't get to pick what I'm going to have. Hell, **I** don't get to pick I'm going to have," Emily declared. The girls all laughed.

"Well, you're just gonna have to work some really weird mojo on your honeymoon and make us some nephews," Lily joked.

"Yeah, ok, right, and how do you suggest I do that?" Emily asked, still laughing.

"With this," Theresa said, pulling a package up from beside the couch. "This is for you and Ray to try out on that honeymoon, or sooner than that if you want."

Emily looked at her sister from the corner of her eye as she ripped the wrapping off of the package. "Theresa! Where did you get this?" Emily held the book in her hands and inspected it carefully.

"What is it?" asked Amy.

The women sitting on the couch all looked at each other and started laughing. "Nothing, Amy. It's for us older girls to know and you to find out about a **very** long time from now," Lily said.

"Ahh, c'mon, please tell me," Amy whined.

Again the women looked at each other and laughed. "Amy, trust me, you don't want to know," Emily said.

"I'm gonna tell my mom!" Amy pouted.

"Fine, Amy, come here a second," Katie said. She leaned over and whispered in Amy's ear for a second.

"Huh?" Amy said. Katie whispered some more and Amy's eyes got big. "Eww!" Everyone started laughing. "Ugh, that is so gross, why did you tell me that?"

"Hey, it got you to stop pouting!" Katie said.

"Yeah, but now I'm gonna puke!" Amy said over-dramatically. She flew off of the couch and towards the bathroom, playing the drama queen very well. The girls started laughing even harder.

"Thank you, Theresa, I've always wanted a Kama Sutra, but I never thought that I would be able to gross out my fiancé's little sister when I got it. That was priceless," Emily said as she wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm the one who got to gross her out," Katie said proudly. "I loved being the older sister."

"Yeah, it's fun huh?" Theresa said. Theresa was the oldest out of all of her brothers and sisters; then came Scott, Emily, Billy, and then Lily was the youngest. For Ray's family, his brothers Chris and Sam were older, and then Katie and Amy were younger than him, with him being the middle child.

"Yeah, laugh it up you two. Being the middle child sucks," Emily said. "I think that's why Ray and I get along and relate so well, because we're both the middle child of five kids."

"Uh duh, you think Einstein?" Theresa joked. The girls all laughed.

"So Emily, have you and Ray thought about having more kids anytime soon?" Lily asked.

"Wow, Lily, when did you become so bold?" Emily asked. Lily was known to be the shy one of her brothers and sisters and Emily was a little shocked that she would ask a question like that.

"I'm not being bold, I'm being curious," Lily defended herself, shrinking into the couch a little bit.

"Don't worry about it honey, I don't mind that you asked, I'm just a little caught off-guard, that's all," Emily smiled at her sister. "Well, we haven't really talked about it, but I know we both want more kids, eventually. I know he wants a son and I wouldn't mind having a little boy running around."

"Good, I want to be a godmother someday," Lily said, with a smile.

"Well, we'll see. I have to have another baby first," Emily said.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lily said laughing. "Get a move on!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Emily said with a mock salute, which wasn't all that easy for her considering she was still holding Tess, who was being very squirmy at the moment and had decided that she didn't want to sit still anymore.

"MAMA!!!" Tess screamed.

"What?" Emily looked at Tessie and shook her head. "You know, I think I liked you better when you didn't know how to say my name."

"Oh, shush, you know you love it when Tessie and Dakota call you Mama," Katie said. "I wish I had that," she said softly.

Emily put a hand on Katie's knee and said, "You will have that, and we just have to find you the right guy first. Maybe you'll meet someone at my wedding. You never know, it's happened before."

"For who?" Katie asked.

"For Kimberly Brady," Emily said.

"Kimberly Brady! She met someone at a wedding?"

"No, Kimberly Brady met her husband at a wedding."

"No shit! Who's wedding?"

"Kayla Brady's, her sister. Kayla was marrying Steve Johnson, and Kim met some guy, I don't remember his name at the moment. I just remember Kayla telling me that they had gotten married and have a kid on the way."

"Wow, I never thought that girl would ever get married, much less be a mom; she was always so shy and quiet in school."

"Yeah, she definitely came out of her shell that night though," Emily mused. She thought back to that night, it wasn't all that long ago, only a couple of years…

"Emily? …Emily? Hey, you there?" Katie waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Hmm? What's the matter?"

"Nothing, you just kinda went away for a minute there. You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about Kayla and Steve's wedding day. I feel so bad about what happened to Kayla; she was finally happy and they had had Stephanie and then Steve was taken away from her so violently and suddenly. I don't think she's ever going to get over it," Emily said sadly. She looked at Ray and shuddered at the thought of him being taken away from her the way that Steve was taken away from Kayla. She knew that she would never get over something like that.

"How's Kayla doing?" Theresa asked.

"I'm not really sure; I haven't talked to her in awhile. The last time I talked to her, she was moving out to Los Angeles with Stephanie. It was just too painful for her to stay here in Salem with all of the memories of her and Steve. She had said something about going back to medical school and becoming a doctor, but I'm not sure if she actually did or not. I should give her a call, see how she's doing." Emily stood up and picked up the portable phone from the charger. "I think I'll go do that right now, actually. It is Christmas and she is one of my best friends."

"Here, I'll take Tessie for you," Lily said. She reached over and took her niece from Emily. "We'll wait here for you. Tell Kayla we all say hi and Merry Christmas, okay?"

"No prob." Emily walked out of the living room and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack. Ray walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Where are you going, honey?" he asked.

"I'm gonna call Kayla, and wish her and Stephanie a Merry Christmas. I want to check up on her, too, just to make sure she's doing okay."

"You're such a good friend, honey. Don't be outside too long; it's really cold out there."

"I know, sweetie. I won't be long." Emily smiled and walked outside. She dialed the phone number she knew by heart and smiled when it started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Kayla? Is that you?"

"Yes, who's this?"

"It's Emily."

"Emily? I don't know any Emily's."

"Very funny. It's Emily Watson."

"Emily? Oh my God, hi! I'm so sorry honey, I had a brain fart. How are you?"

"A brain fart, huh? Is that medical term for it?"

"Oh shush, how are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"I'm okay; I'm just trying to get Stephanie to come down stairs to eat some lunch before we leave. We're driving over to Mom's later for Christmas dinner at the pub. You and Ray should stop by later, it would be great to see you guys. I'm kinda all alone out here."

"And where is 'out here,' if you don't mind me asking?"

"Los Angeles. I moved out here with Stephanie about two years ago. We still visit Salem every once in awhile, but we don't stay very long. It's just too hard sometimes," Kayla said softly.

"Yeah, I can understand that. All of those memories. I think Ray and I will stop by later, I miss the Brady Bunch."

"Ugh, I hate it when we're called that."

"I know, that's why I do it. How are Bo and Hope doing?" Emily asked.

"They're good; they have a little boy now. They named him Shawn Douglas after Pop."

"Wow, everyone is having kids now huh? How old is Shawn?"

"He's about the same age as Stephanie, he's a couple of months older, I think."

"Wow. That's awesome."

"Yeah, Bo and Hope should be at the pub later on, too. I think that Kim and Shane will be there, too."

"Well, Ray and I will just have to stop by then. Like I said, I miss you guys."

"Well, we miss you too. I've gotta go, Stephanie is running around with no clothes on at the moment," Kayla said.

"Ha-ha, have fun, and we'll see you later."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." Emily hit the "off" button on the phone and went back into the house. She took off her jacket and hung it up on the coat rack. She walked back to the couch and sat back down with her sisters.

"How's Kayla doing?" Lily asked.

"Good; she's going to the pub later to see her family. I told her that Ray and I stop by to see her and the rest of the Brady Bunch."

"You better make sure you don't say that in front of them, they hate it when they're called that."

"Yeah, I know. They let me get away with it though, they love me. I was over at their house growing up just as much as I was here."

"True, so how did she sound?"

"She sounded okay, she was a little distracted by Stephanie running around with no clothes on, but other than that she sounded good. We talked about her moving to Los Angeles and she sounded a little sad when that was brought up, but other than that she sounded good," Emily said.

"Who are you talking about?" Ray asked as he walked over to the couch.

"Kayla. We're going to stop by the Brady Pub later to say hi to everyone."

"Oh, okay. That sounds good. Did you tell her about the twins?"

"Oops, I forgot. Oh well, we'll just surprise her."

"You forgot to tell her about the twins? Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes, silly, I'm feeling fine. I really didn't have a chance to tell her about the girls, she had to go chase down Stephanie, who was running around naked."

"Oh, okay. Are my buddies Bo and Shane going to be there?"

"I don't know honey, Kayla said that they would probably be there."

"Okay, that's good. I haven't seen them in a while."

"I know, I haven't seen Kay in a while either."

"Well, let's open presents and then we'll get going. It's almost 4 o'clock, so we should probably try and go soon."

"Okay, that sounds good." They took the girls from Katie and Lily and sat down on the floor by the Christmas tree. Everyone else joined them and started passing around presents. A few minutes later, the floor was covered in wrapping paper and ribbons and bows. Everyone took great joy in putting the bows onto Tessie and Dakota's heads and taking pictures of them. About half an hour later, Ray and Emily started packing up all of their gifts and the girls so that they could say their good-byes. About another 15 minutes later they had gotten the girls into their snowsuits and into the car and were on their way to the Brady Pub.

"So what do you think the Brady's are going to say when they see us with twins?" Ray asked Emily softly. The girls were in the back, sound asleep.

"I don't know, but I think that they'll be happy for us. I know that Kayla, Kim and Hope are all going to be mad that I hadn't told them yet, especially since we were really close at one point, but once they look at my beautiful girls, they'll get over it," Emily said. She turned around and looked at her sleeping children. "I wish that they could stay this way forever and never grow up."

"I don't," Ray said. "I want them to grow up and be big and strong. I also don't want to have change anymore diapers."

Emily smiled, "True that would be nice. But if we have more kids, you'll need to get used to changing diapers."

"Yeah, but I don't really want to have anymore kids for awhile."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well, we're not married yet, and I love our girls, but I don't want to have anymore illegitimate children. I want to be married before we have anymore kids." He saw the look on Emily's face and quickly said, "Hey, I wouldn't change what we have for anything in the world, ever. But when we have more kids, I want it to be the right way. I don't want our kids to be made fun of because their parents aren't married."

"Oh, well that I can understand," Emily said calmly. She looked back at the girls again and asked, "Do you ever wish that we had waited to have the girls?"

Ray sat for a second and then said, "Sometimes. I don't regret having the girls or having them when we did, but there are times when I get frustrated because of how many bills we have and that we're still in school and we don't make enough money and a whole bunch of other things. But then I take one look at those two girls back there and I know that everything is going to be okay. That no matter what, as long as I have you and Tessie and Dakota, that everything will be okay."

Emily smiled at Ray and then screamed, "Ray! Look out!"

Ray slammed on the brakes and narrowly missed hitting the car directly in front of him. The car in front of him had stopped short and was sitting in the middle of the road. Ray and Emily sat there breathing heavily.  
"Are you okay?" Ray asked Emily.

"Yeah, are you?" Emily asked, her voice shaking.

"Yeah." He looked behind them into the back seat to check on the girls and saw that they were both still asleep. "The girls are okay." He looked in front of them at the car in front of them. "I'm going to go and see what's going on." He put on his hazard lights and got out of the car. He walked up to the other car and knocked on the window. The window rolled down and Ray asked, "Is everything okay?"

Kayla looked up at him through the window and said, "Yeah, I'm okay. A deer ran across the road and I stomped on the brakes to avoid missing it. Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's okay. We almost hit you, but my fiancé was able to warn me in time. My name's Ray."

"Kayla." She stuck her hand out of the window and shook his. "That's my daughter Stephanie in the back."

"Wait a minute. Kayla Brady?"

"Yeah… how did you know my last name?" Kayla asked, very suspicious.

"It's me, Ray Parshley. I went to school with you and your brothers."

"Oh my god! Hi! What a weird coincidence! I was just talking to Emily earlier. I'm on my way to the pub."

"Yeah we are, too. Emily's in the car." At that moment Emily stuck her head out of the car window and yelled, "Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine! It's Kayla!"

"Oh! Is she okay?"

"Yeah! A deer ran in front of her!"

"Oh! Well, get back in the car! We'll talk to her at the pub!"

"OK!" he yelled back to Emily. He turned back to Kayla and asked, "Are you sure you're okay? I know how shaken up Emily and I were a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I am still a little shook up, but I'll be okay. Will you guys follow me to the pub though? I've had this feeling like I'm being watched or something, it's kind of creeping me out."

"Yeah, that's no problem."

"Okay, I'll see you guys at the pub then, and we can catch up there."

"Sounds good." Ray walked back to his car and got back in.

"Is she alright?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, she's just really shook up. She wants us to follow her to the pub, she said something about be watched or feeling like she's being watched."

"Really?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. I think she's just shook up, but we'll follow her there anyways." Ray started the car back up and slowly followed Kayla to the pub. Once they got there, Ray parked next to Kayla and helped her get Stephanie out of the car. He then turned back to his car to help Emily with the girl's carriers.

"And who are these guys?" Kayla asked when she saw Emily holding Dakota's car seat.

"These are my daughters, Tessie and Dakota," Emily said, "and they are currently sleeping, so let's keep our voices down so that they don't wake up."

"They are absolutely adorable! How old are they?" Kayla asked as they walked towards the pub.

"They are nine months. They were born in March," Ray said.

"Oh my god! And I thought that I was young when I had Stephanie! You guys must have just turned twenty-two when they were born."

"Well, close. Our birthdays were after they were born. We had just turned 21 when I found out I was pregnant," Emily explained.

"Oh wow."

"Yeah." They walked into the pub and were immediately surrounded by the entire Brady family. Bo and Hope were standing by the bar talking to Caroline and Shawn and looked up to see Kayla walking in with Emily and Ray.

"Oh my God! Look at what the cat dragged in!" Bo exclaimed. He started walking over to welcome Emily and Ray with Hope, Caroline and Shawn close behind him. He hugged his sister and niece and then hugged Emily. "Where the hell have you two been hiding all these years?"

"Nice to see you, too, Bo," Ray said with a smile. He put down the diaper bag he was holding and shook Bo's hand. "Long time, no see."

"No kidding. What's it been, two years? Three maybe?"

"Something like that."

"Well, come sit down. Let me help you with those bags." Bo picked up the diaper bag and walked over to one of the booths. Ray and Emily followed him and placed the girls' carriers on top of the table. The girls were wide awake now, and did not want to sit in the carriers anymore. They decided to make that very clear as they were both wailing at the top of their lungs.

"Okay, it's okay. Hang on one second, Tessie, and I'll have you out of there," Emily said as she tried to calm down the baby. It wasn't until she was able to get the baby unbuckled and out of the seat that she finally calmed down. "There, see, I told you I would get you out of there. You made a big fuss over nothing." Emily kissed Tessie on the forehead and then placed her onto the table so that she could get her out of the snow suit.

"Emily, they are absolutely gorgeous. How old are they?" Hope asked, as she walked over with Shawn Douglas on her hip.

"They are 9 months old tomorrow. They were born March 26th."

"They're so big for 9 months. How big were they when they were born?"

"About 5 or 6lbs. each. I think that Tessie was 5lbs. and 8oz., and Dakota was 6lbs. and 2oz." Ray said.

"Wow, that's really good for twins. I know that twins are usually born really small. I know that Sami and Eric were only 2 or 3lbs each." Just then Sami and Eric ran over and attached themselves to Bo's legs.

"Uncle Bo! Give us a ride please!" they said together.

Bo laughed and said, "Okay, but only a short one. You guys are getting too big for this."

"No we're not! We'll never be too big for this!" Eric declared.

"Yeah!" Sami agreed.

Bo laughed and proceeded to walk around with his legs spread side apart so that he didn't have Sami and Eric bouncing into each other. Everyone laughed as they watched Bo kid around with his niece and nephew. Marlena and Roman walked over to the group and said their hello's to everyone in the group. Ray and Emily took a seat at the booth with one of the girls in each of their laps. Emily grabbed two bottles out of one of the diaper bags and handed one to Ray. "Em, this is too cold for them. They need to be heated up."

"Oops, I forgot. Could you do it for me and I'll hold Dakota, too?"

"Here, I'll do it," Caroline offered. She took the bottles out of their hands and started to walk into the kitchen. "They just need a minute in the microwave, right?"

"Umm, try thirty seconds first and if it's not warm enough then another thirty. Please."

"Oh, don't worry about it honey. This is what I do. Hope, do you need one for Shawn Douglas?"

"No, he's off of the bottle now. I have a sippy-cup for him. Do you have any juice?" Hope asked.

"Of course I do. Does it matter what kind?"

"Nope, this kid will drink just about anything."

"Okay then." Caroline walked out into the kitchen after she had taken the cup from Hope. Hope turned to Emily.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you since Kayla's wedding," she asked Emily.

"I've been good. I'm still going to Salem University and I'm working towards my degree in nursing. Ray is going through the police academy and will graduate in about 6 weeks. I think that he's gonna try and get a job with the Salem PD. We want to try and buy a house in Salem so that the girls can go to school here and I can get a job at University Hospital. We've always lived in or around Salem and want to stay here."

"Well, I know that the house next to Jen and Jack's is up for sale and the one next to me and Bo is up, too."

"Oh! Well, I'll have to look into it. You and Jen live on the same street, right?"

"Yeah, right around the corner from each other. She baby-sits Shawn all the time."

"That's good to know. I need to call her, too, I haven't seen or talked to her since Kayla's wedding, either."

"Yeah, you kinda shut yourself off from everyone then. Why is that?" Hope asked gently.

"It's a long story. I was going through a really rough time and got mixed up with some bad people. They kinda turned me against the Brady's for awhile and I did a lot of stuff that I'm not very proud of." Emily said very quietly as she glanced at Ray. He looked back at her and nodded his head, encouraging her to go on.

"What do you mean, they turned you against the Brady's?" Hope asked, a little scared, "what did you do that you're not proud of?"

"Look, Hope, its Christmas. Let's not talk about that right now, okay? Please? It was a long time ago and I want it to stay in the past. It has nothing to do with what I'm doing now and it doesn't really affect anyone here." Emily looked at Kayla and sighed. "_God, I'm such a horrible liar and friend,"_ Emily thought.

"Okay," Hope said, "but I want to talk to you more about this later. Maybe tomorrow or the day after?"

"Sure, that's fine," Emily said. She smiled at Hope and said, "I have good news."

"What?" Hope asked.

"Ray proposed to me this afternoon."

"Oh my God! Congratulations! That's wonderful!" Hope exclaimed. She looked at Emily's hand and gasped. "Oh my God, that ring is absolutely gorgeous!" She took Emily's hand in hers and examined the ring. Emily explained the significance of the stones and Hope said, "Oh, that's so sweet. I wish Brady would do something like that for me."

"Do what for you?" Bo asked as he walked back over to the table.

"Get me a ring like Emily's," Hope said.

"Let me see that," Bo said. He took Emily's hand in his and examined the ring the same way that Hope had. "That's very nice. Did you get this for Christmas?" he asked.

"No, that's my engagement ring. Ray asked me earlier today."

"Congratulations! That's awesome!" He hugged Emily and shook Ray's hand. "When's the big day?"

"We haven't decided yet, we just got engaged this afternoon," Ray said, "and please don't get her going again. She's been talking with my sisters and her sisters about wedding plans all afternoon."

"She's a woman, it's what they do," Bo said laughing, earning himself a glare from Hope. "What? It is!"

Hope turned away from her husband and looked at Emily. "Well, it seems we have a wedding to plan."

"Yes it does. My sisters and Ray's sisters and I have been talking all afternoon about different colors and designs and everything else under the sun."

"I remember when we did that for my wedding. It seems like such a long time ago and it really wasn't."

"Yeah, I know it." Emily and Hope started talking about everything that had happened when they were in high school, and Bo and Ray just shook their heads and laughed. Caroline walked back out with the baby bottles and sippy-cup for Shawn D. and handed them to the respective parents. She noticed the ring on Emily's hand when she handed her the bottle and gasped, "Oh. My. God. That is the most beautiful ring that I have ever seen!" Emily smiled and repeated what she had just finished telling Hope a few minutes before. By that time everyone in the Brady family had heard about Emily and Ray getting engaged and Shawn had started passing out champagne glasses. He raised his glass and tapped gently on the side of it to get everyone's attention.

"I want to make a toast." He turned to Emily and Ray, and said, "To Emily and Ray. May you always have happiness and love."

"To Emily and Ray," everyone said. They all took a sip of champagne and then started clapping.

"Thank you, Pop, that means a lot to me," Emily said, using the nickname that Bo had given him years ago. She put down her glass and shifted Tessie to her hip. She stood up and gave Shawn a big hug. She then turned and gave Caroline a hug and said, "I hope that you guys will come to my wedding."

"Of course we'll come, we wouldn't miss it for the world," Caroline said. She looked at Emily and saw that she was crying. "Em, what's the matter? Why are you crying?"

Emily sniffled and said, "I'm just so happy. I don't know why I ever stopped hanging out around here. The best times of my life happened in this pub with you and your family."

"Oh, honey, thank you; that means so much to me. Just so you know, you and Ray and those babies of yours are welcome here anytime. You don't ever have to call; if you need us, you come." Caroline smiled at Emily and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Now, stop that silly crying of yours and be happy! This is a happy time and you should be smiling!"

Emily laughed. It was hard to be upset or crying around Caroline Brady, or any of the Brady's for that matter. Emily looked at Kayla and felt a pang of guilt in her heart. "_It's my fault that she's so unhappy. Why did I do what I did? How could I have ever hurt one of my best friends like that?"_ she thought. Kayla smiled at Emily and walked over to her.

"Congratulations, sweetheart. I'm so happy for you," Kayla said, "One of us deserves to be happy." Kayla slapped a hand over mouth and then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I guess I'm just a little jealous, is all."

Emily smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. I understand, Honey. You deserve to be happy, too. And you will be, I promise."

"I hope that you're right. I just don't think that it will ever happen if I don't have Steve there with me. I miss him so much, especially on days like today," Kayla said sadly, "I just wish that Stephanie had gotten to know her daddy before he was taken from us. She meant so much to him."

"I know she did, honey. Steve would have been the best daddy to Stephanie—I take that back, he was the best daddy to her. I know that he loves her very much."

"You mean, loved her," Kayla said.

"Of course, I'm sorry Kay," Emily said. "I only meant that his love for her and you will never die and that even though he is no longer with us, he still loves you both very much." "_Whew, that was close_," Emily thought to herself.

"Oh, yeah, I suppose that you're right. I get this feeling sometimes that he's watching over us, protecting us almost. …I don't know, maybe it's just my imagination. I sometimes think that he's still alive, mostly in the mornings. I wake up and role over, expecting to see him laying there next to me. Of course he's not, and I wind up disappointed again." Kayla looked up at Emily and was surprised to see her with tears in her eyes. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, honey. I just think about everything that you've had to go through and can't imagine it happening to me and Ray. I don't think that I would be able to continue living without him in my life. I love him so much." Emily sniffled and wiped at her nose.

Tessie looked up at Emily and said, "Mama."

Emily smiled at the baby and said, "I love you, baby. You, and your sister and your daddy are my entire world."

Kayla smiled at Emily and Tessie and said, "You are such a good mom, Emily. I hope you know that."

"Thank you, Kayla. That means a lot to me. I hope that you and I can become close friends again. I know that we were before your wedding and the whole thing with Steve happened, I want us to go back to that. I know I wasn't there to help you when Steve was taken from you, and I feel horrible about that; I wasn't a very good friend to you then, but I want to make up for it now."

"Sweetie, it's okay. You obviously had a lot going on then, or I know that you would have been there," Kayla said. "I don't know what it is that you had going on, but I don't really care. The important thing is that you are here now and that you called me this afternoon. That means more to me than you could ever know."

"Kayla, will you come to my wedding? I know that it's probably not going to be for a couple of months and that I have a lot of planning to do, but it would mean a lot to me if you were there."

Kayla sat for a minute and didn't say anything. Then she looked up at Emily and said, "Of course I'll be there, Em. Nothing would be able to stop me from being there for you."

"Thank you, Kay, that means more to me than you will ever know. If you think it will be too hard for you, then you don't have to come to the ceremony, but I would like you there for the reception."

"Don't be silly, of course I'll be there for the ceremony. I wouldn't miss it for the world," Kayla said. She smiled and said, "Now stop worrying about me, I'll be fine. I have Mom, Kim, and Hope worrying about me enough, I don't need another worry-wart on my case."

"_Oh, Kayla, if you only knew what I had done to you and Steve, you wouldn't want anything to do with me aside from putting me behind bars," _Emily thought. She smiled at Kayla and said, "I know, but it's my nature." Tessie burped and smiled at her mom. "Well, this one is done feeding for a couple of hours. I think that I'll put her in the playpen with the other little ones." Emily stood up and picked up Dakota from Ray and then walked over to the playpen. "Okay, you two, play nice with Shawn and Stephanie. I'll be right over there with Daddy." She put a couple of toys from the diaper bag into the playpen for the kids to play with and then walked back to the table that she had been sitting at with Kayla and Hope. The three of them started talking about Emily's upcoming wedding again and where it was going to be held and all of those other details that women talk about when it comes to weddings. They probably would have sat there all night if Bo and Ray had let them, but of course, they didn't.

Bo and Ray came back over to the three friends and Bo said, "Okay, I think that it's time to go, Hope. It's almost 9 and I have to work in the morning."

Hope looked at her watch and said, "Oh my gosh, I didn't know it was this late. If we don't get home soon, Shawn will never fall asleep and then we'll be up all night with him."

"Yeah, same for us with the girls," Emily said. "Ray, I think that we need to get going, too. I don't want my parents waiting up for us."

"You guys still live with your parents?" Hope asked.

"Yeah, for the moment. We're trying to save up money to get an apartment or house somewhere here in town. It probably won't happen for a few more months, but we're hoping to be out of there by May or June."

"Well, like I said, there's the house next to Jen's and the one next to mine, so if you want, I can get you the realtor's number and give it to you tomorrow," Hope offered.

"Thanks sweetie, that would be great," Ray said.

"No problem, I would love to have you guys as neighbors," Hope said. She started to collect all of Shawn's things and Emily and Kayla started doing the same for their kids. About ten minutes later they all had the kids stuff packed up and the kids in their snow suits and car-seats and were ready to go. The three families walked out to the parking lot and to their respective cars. They called their goodbyes to one another and then slowly started to drive home, seeing how snow had fallen again while they were all inside the pub.

"That was fun," Emily said.

"Yeah it was. I missed hanging out with Bo and Roman. I haven't seen them in so many years and it was good to get caught up with them," Ray agreed.

"What do you think they're going to do when they find out about me and what I did?" Emily asked quietly.

"I don't really know, sweetheart. I think that if you're honest with them and tell them everything that they'll forgive you. But I really think that you need to tell them absolutely everything and not leave anything out. It's the only way that you'll be able to forgive yourself and get on with your life. Just remember that no matter what, I'll always love you and nothing you do will ever change that."

"Ray, I love you so much, I don't know what I would do without you. Do you really think that Kayla will ever forgive me for the part I played in Steve being taken from her though? I don't think that she will."

"Well, even if she doesn't, it will all be in the open and no one will be able to threaten you with that information anymore."

Emily looked up at Ray in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

Ray glanced at Emily out of the corner of his eyes and said, "don't play dumb. I know you know what I'm talking about. Dimera has been blackmailing you to keep you quiet, hasn't he?"

Emily sat quietly for a minute and then quietly said, "Yes, and he told me that if I ever told that he would take the girls from me. Ray, I'm so scared, I can't lose our girls. Without them and you, my life isn't worth living."

"He said what?" Ray asked very quietly. Emily knew when his voice got that low and serious that he was furious.

"He threatened me that if I ever told what happened the night Steve was killed that he would kidnap the girls and I would never see them again. Ray, he's serious. Stefano Dimera doesn't make threats that he doesn't plan on carrying out. Ray, I can't lose my girls. I just can't," Emily said softly as she started crying.

"Hey, listen to me. Emily, listen to me. You and I are not going to lose our girls; I'll kill Stefano myself if ever comes near them, I swear it." Ray took Emily's hand in his and kissed her fingers. "I swear to you, Dimera's going to pay for all of the heartache and pain that he's caused to us and the Brady's. I swear it to you."

"I believe you, Ray."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Days Of Our Lives or any of the recognizable characters. I do, however, own any of the characters that you do not recognize. Please read and enjoy and give me some reviews. I need to know if this is any good and if I am a good writer.

Chapter 2: The next day

Emily woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. She leaped out of bed and ran into the nursery. She breathed a sigh of relief once she saw that both of the girls were sound asleep in their cribs. She leaned against the wall and slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. Ray walked into the nursery in his pajama pants and saw Emily sitting in between the cribs with her head in her hands. "Emily? What's wrong? You ran out the bedroom like you were on fire." He sat down next to her and took her hands in his, which made her look up at him. Tears were running down her face in rivers, and her eyes were lined with red. "What's the matter sweetie?"

"I had a nightmare that Stefano had kidnapped the girls. It seemed so real to me and I was so scared. I woke up in a panic and ran in here as fast as I could. I was terrified that he had broken in and taken them." Emily started to sob. "I can't live like this anymore, Ray. I can't keep living a lie and feeling so guilty. I have to tell Kayla and the rest of the Brady's the truth. It's killing me to keep this inside."

Ray pulled Emily into his arms and let her cry. They sat there for almost half an hour before Emily's crying had subsided. By that time the girls were waking up and making noises to be taken out of their cribs. Scott and Lily walked into the nursery to see Emily and Ray sitting on the floor, and their nieces standing up in their cribs giggling. "Everything okay?" Scott asked. Ray looked over at him and nodded his head.

"Could you guys take the girls downstairs and feed them their cereal? Emily is a little upset and needs a minute to collect herself."

"Sure, that's no problem," Lily said. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Ray said. Lily and Scott each picked up a twin and walked out of the nursery downstairs. Ray put his fingers under Emily's chin and lifted it up. "Look at me sweetie, I want you to look at me please." Emily stopped averting her eyes and looked into Ray's. "I told you this last night, and I'm going to tell you again now: Stefano Dimera is not going to come anywhere near our daughters. I'll kill him first."

"Ray, I'm so scared. I can't lose our girls, I can't. I just can't," Emily said as tears started falling down her cheeks again.

"We are not going to lose our girls. I promise you that. If you want to tell Kayla and the rest of the Brady's the truth, then I'll be with you the entire way. I already know everything that happened when you were with Dimera, and I don't care. I know that you were in a very dark place then and you were being drugged by Dimera; I could kill him for what he put you through and what he made you do. I'm sure once you tell Kayla and the rest of the Brady's exactly what happened, that they will understand and forgive you. It might not happen right away, but I've known the Brady's my entire life and I know that they always forgive everyone, no matter what they've done in the past. Now, let's get you cleaned up and go eat some breakfast. I can only imagine the mess that the girls have made in the kitchen with Scott and Lily trying to feed them." Emily smiled at that and stood up to walk into the bathroom. Ray grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and smoothed her hair under his hand. "I love you and I promise you with every fiber in my body that no one is going to harm our girls."

"I love you, too, Ray," Emily said. She kissed him softly on the lips and then walked into the bathroom across the hall from the nursery. She turned on the cold water and splashed some on her face. She looked into the mirror and sighed. _"How could I have done those horrible things to the Brady's?"__ Emily thought to herself. "__I'm such a horrible person, how on earth can I expect them to forgive me for what I've done?" __She turned off the faucet and turned to leave the bathroom when she was suddenly thrown into a flashback. "No! No, this can't be happening, I don't want to remember!" she yelled and then blacked out. She fell to the floor and hit her head on the corner of the sink. _

"_Emily! Come here, my dear, I have something for you," the deep voice called out. _

"_Yes Stefano?" the 19-year-old asked. "What is it?"_

"_I have a present for you, my dear," he said. "Close your eyes, it's a surprise." He smiled wickedly._

"_Okay," she said. She closed her eyes and then felt the prick of a needle in her arm. Her eyes flew open and she screamed, "What are you doing? I thought you said you had a present for me!"_

"_I do, but I need you to something for me first," his voice started to get very soft as he whispered into her ear, "The time is now to begin our plan; our plan to make the Brady's pay."_

"_Make the Brady's pay," Emily said groggily. "We will make them pay."_

"_That's my girl," Stefano said devilishly. "This is what I need you to do…" _

"_Emily! Emily, wake up!" Ray yelled. He had run upstairs when he heard her scream and then the thump only to find her on the floor bleeding. He gently shook her and tried to get her wake up. He turned to the door of the bathroom and yelled, "Theresa! Call 911! Emily's unconscious!"_

"_What?" Theresa walked into the bathroom and gasped, "Emily!" She then ran to the phone in her room and dialed 911. "Yes, I need an ambulance at once! My sister fell and is unconscious!" She paused and then yelled to Ray, "Is she breathing?"_

"_Yes, but not very well. They need to get here as soon as possible!" Theresa relayed the info to the operator and walked into the bathroom, stretching the phone-cord across the hall. "Come on, baby, wake up, you gotta wake up. Please wake up," Ray whispered to Emily. He cradled her head in his lap and tried to get her to wake up. He noticed the cut on her head was bleeding pretty good and grabbed a face cloth off of the sink. He pressed it against the cut to stem the blood-flow and sat there rocking gently back and forth. "Come on, Emily, please wake up. I need you to wake up." He looked up to see the paramedics walking into the bathroom with a stretcher. He recognized one of them as his brother and said, "Chris! Thank God! Emily fell and hit her head. I was downstairs when I heard the thump. I don't know what happened."_

_Chris looked at his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law and quickly assessed the situation. He climbed over Emily's limp body and squatted next to Ray. "How long has she been out?" _

"_I'm not sure, I heard the thump about ten minutes ago, I think. Is she going to be okay?" Ray asked._

"_I don't know Ray; I don't even know the extent of her injuries." Chris checked the cut on Emily's head. "That doesn't look too bad, just a good gash. She'll probably need stitches."_

"_What's wrong with her, Chris?" Ray asked nervously._

"_I don't know, Ray, but we're going to take her to the hospital and have the doctor's take a look at her." Chris turned to the other paramedic and said, "Ozzie, hand me the gauze, I'm going to wrap up her head to try and slow down the bleeding." Ozzie tossed the roll of gauze and a few sterile pads of gauze to Chris out of the medical bag that he had sitting next to him. Chris gently lifted Emily's head and wrapped gauze snuggly around her head. He then positioned himself so that he could grab the backboard and put it under Emily. Chris put the neck-brace on Emily and then he and Ozzie gently rolled her onto her side and onto the backboard. They strapped her on and then lifted her onto the stretcher, wheeling her into the hallway. "Ray, are you going to come with us to the hospital?"_

"_Yeah, I'm coming," Ray said without hesitation._

"_Ray, here, put this on," Theresa said, tossing him a sweatshirt. He pulled it on and walked down the stairs after his brother and Ozzie. Lily and Scott were standing at the bottom of the stairs holding the girls waiting for Ray to tell them what was going on. He didn't tell them what was happening, just to get the girls dressed and to meet them at the hospital. He shoved his feet into his sneakers and ran out the door after the paramedics. He climbed into the back of the ambulance and closed the doors behind him. The ambulance took off down the road with the lights going and the siren blaring. Ray held onto Emily's hand and sat there as tears ran down his cheeks. _

"_Come on, Em, you gotta come out of this, you just gotta. I don't know what's wrong, but you gotta wake up,"__ Ray thought to himself. Chris strapped an oxygen mask on to Emily's face and smoothed the hair out of her face. He loved Emily like a sister, especially since she practically was. They had been friends for as long as she had been friends with Katie and he cared about her a great deal. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with her and that was scaring him a bit. He turned to Ray and saw that he was crying._

"_Was there anything different about Emily this morning? Anything out of the norm?" Chris asked._

"_I don't think so. I mean, she had had a nightmare and was worried that something had happened to the girls, but she's always worried about the girls."_

"_She had a nightmare?"_

"_Yeah, but that shouldn't have caused her to pass out," Ray said._

"_That's weird. Did she tell you what is was about?" Chris asked. He knew what happened with Stefano and the horrors she had put through because of him. Chris wasn't sure if Ray knew that he knew and he didn't want to push his brother. _

"_No, she didn't say what it was about. She just woke up in a panic and raced into the nursery. I don't know what she had been dreaming about, but I know that it scared the shit out of her," Ray said. He didn't like lying to his brother, but he wanted to protect his fiancé as much as he could. He knew that she was close with Chris, but he didn't know what she had told him about her time with Stefano and he didn't want to tell him too much by accident if Emily didn't want him to know everything._

_They pulled up to the hospital and Ozzie hopped out. He opened up the back doors and pulled on the end of the stretcher. Chris and Ray hopped out after him and walked into the hospital. "Okay, tell me what's going on," Dr. Horton said._

"_Mike Horton?" Ray asked._

"_Yes? Oh, hi Ray, I didn't recognize you. Oh my, is this Emily?" Mike asked._

"_Yes, it's Emily. She passed out in the bathroom and hit her head on the edge of the sink. I was downstairs when it happened," Ray explained. Emily was wheeled into an examining room and Mike turned to Ray._

"_Ray, I need you to stay out here and wait. I promise as soon as I figure out what's wrong that I'll come get you," Mike said. He turned back around and went into the examining room. Ray stood there for a minute and then turned and went into the waiting room. He sat down on one of the benches lining the hall and put his head into his hands. Chris walked over to him and sat down next to him._

"_She'll be okay, Ray, she's strong," Chris said to his brother. Ray looked up at him with a tear-stained face._

"_I know she is. After everything that Dimera put her through, she's the strongest person I've ever met." Ray looked down and then said, "She never told me this, but I have reason to believe that she was forced to sleep with him and that despicable son of his, Tony."_

_Chris gasped. "What?" _

"_Just the way that she cringes every time that Stefano's name or Tony's name is mentioned, I know she was abused by them. I've seen the scars on her arms from when he was drugging her. She has never said anything about it to me and the doctors wouldn't tell me anything when we brought her into the hospital the day that we found her because I wasn't a blood relative." He shook his head and grunted a little at this. "I swear to God, Chris: if I ever see either of those men alive ever again, I'll kill them myself; especially if they come near my girls." Ray looked up as Mike came out of the examining room. He stood up and asked, "Is she okay?"_

_Mike looked down and then he said, "Well, she stable. She's breathing on her own and we were able to stop the bleeding from her head wound, which wasn't serious. She'll need stitches and she probably has a concussion, and will have a big headache when she wakes up."_

"_Is she on an I.V.?" Ray asked._

"_Yes, but it's only so that we can keep her hydrated," Mike explained with a puzzled look. "Why do you ask?"_

"_She hates needles and she really doesn't like having drugs pumped into her system," Chris explained as Ray ran into the room. Mike and Chris ran into the room after Ray and Chris grabbed Ray's arms when he tried to pull the I.V. out of Emily's arm. "Ray! Don't! She'll be okay. Just sit here with her and talk to her. If she hears your voice when she wakes up, she won't freak about the needles."_

_Ray stopped struggling and nodded his head. He pulled a chair from the corner of the room over next to Emily's bed and sat down, taking her hand into his. He kissed it gently, being aware of the needles in the top of her hand. He put his head down on the bed and silently started to cry. "_This is all of my fault," Ray thought. "I never should have left her side this morning when I knew how upset she was. She never would have fallen and cut her head. What is wrong with her? I'm so scared right now. Why hasn't she woken up yet?" At this thought, he looked up at Mike and asked him, "Why hasn't she woken up yet?"

"_I'm really not sure why she's still unconscious, Ray. All evidence points to the fact that she should be wide awake and talking to us; however, she did hit her head pretty good. The brain scans that we took show no brain damage though, so I'm really quite puzzled," Mike said honestly. He had known Emily and Ray since they were kids and had watched them grow up with his nieces and nephews. He cared about both of them a great deal and was very worried about Emily. He had never seen anything like this with any of his patients and was determined to figure out what was going on with Emily. "I'm going to call Marlena down to talk with Emily when she wakes up." He saw the panicked look on Ray's face and said quickly, "it's just part of the protocol, Ray, and like I said, I'll make sure that it's Marlena; I know that Emily trusts her." Ray relaxed a little and nodded his head. He put his head down on the bed next to Emily's leg and closed his eyes. When his shoulders started shaking again from him crying, Mike and Chris took this as a sign to leave the room and give him his privacy. _

"_Okay, Mike, spill. What's going on with Emily?" Chris looked at Mike with a very serious look on his face. _

_Mike sighed and said, "I honestly don't know. I think that Ray knows more than he's letting on though, and I'm going to find out. That poor girl in there is practically comatose and something caused it. I want to know what it was." Mike looked at Chris and asked, "Do you have any idea what could have caused this?"_

_Chris said, "Well, Ray had said something about Emily having a nightmare last night and it really freaked her out; said that she had ran into the babies' nursery like she was worried that they wouldn't be there or something. I wonder why she would have a dream like that," Chris wondered out loud. _

"_Do you know if something traumatic could have happened to her to make her worried about her children being taken from her?" Mike asked._

_Chris flashed back to the night he had found Emily with Ray. _

"_Ray, are you sure that this is where she is?" Chris asked his brother._

"_Yes, I'm sure! My source told me that he had seen her being dragged here by that son-of-a-bitch Dimera. I swear to God, Chris, if I ever see that bastard, I'll kill him myself!" They rounded a corner and Ray held out a hand to stop Chris from walking any further. "SHH!" They crouched and Ray poked his head around the corner. "Emily!" He gasped. He checked for guards and then ran towards the cage she was locked in. She was lying on a bed in the middle of the cell, passed out cold. Chris ran after his brother and pulled the bolt cutters out of the bag he had been carrying. He handed them to Ray and he snapped the combination lock that had been holding the cell closed. Ray opened the cell door and ran to Emily. "Emily? Emily, answer me." _

_Chris felt her throat for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief. "She's got a pulse, it's a weak one, but it's there."_

"_Thank god," Ray agreed. He scooped Emily into his arms and started to carry her out of the cell. "C'mon Chris, we've got to get her out of here. She's freezing and I think that she's been drugged."_

"_You're right there, Raymond," came a very deep voice. Ray and Chris whirled around to face the man that everyone in Salem despised and hated more than anything else in this world. _

"_Stephano! You bastard! What did you do to her?" Chris yelled._

"_Hello Christopher. It's nice to see you, too. You don't have to yell, my hearing is quite good. Yes, Emily has been given a sedative, but it was for her own protection. She was saying she was going to kill herself and she needed to put asleep for her safety."_

"_You liar! The only way Emily would ever want to kill herself was if she had put through hell and back, which it looks like she has! She's coming home with us, and there is nothing you can do to stop us from taking her home!" Chris declared. He looked at Ray and said, "Don't even think about it, Ray. I want to kill him as much as you do, but we have to think about Emily right now. She needs our help more than you need revenge."_

"_Yes, Raymond, listen to your half-wit brother. He's actually making sense for once," Stephano said, trying to provoke the brothers. _

"_Ray, let's go now!" Chris pulled on Ray's arm and pushed him towards the way that they had come in. They made it out of the Dimera mansion and practically ran to the car. "God, I can't believe that it was that easy to get out of there," Chris said to Ray once they were in the car and on their way to the hospital. _

"_I know, it was a little too easy," Ray said from the back seat, where he was sitting with Emily. She was lying across the seat with her head in Ray's lap. She started to stir and wake up a little. _

"_Ray? Is that you?" Emily asked, groggily. _

"_Yeah, Emily, it's me Ray. Chris is here, too. We're taking you to the hospital, we're gonna get you well again," Ray said to her. He wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed the top of her head. He started to rub Emily's arms to warm her up. Chris looked in the rearview mirror and saw how close his brother and Emily were. He could see in his brothers eyes how much he loved Emily and only wished that he would admit it. He knew how much his brother wanted to be with her and hoped that as Emily got better, that Ray would spend as much time with her as he possibly could and would tell her how he felt. _

_Chris pulled up to the emergency room doors and parked the car. He ran around to the side that Ray was sitting and helped him get Emily out of the car. They ran into the emergency room and Ray yelled, "Someone help us! She's been hurt!" Immediately, a swarm of nurses and doctors ran to help them. Ray placed Emily on a gurney and watched helplessly as the doctors wheeled her into an examining room. He went and sat down one of the benches lining the room. He put his head in his hands and started crying. _

_Chris was shocked. He had never seen his brother cry, aside from a skinned knee when they were little, and suddenly realized exactly how much his brother loved Emily. He sat down next to him and placed an arm around his back. "She'll be okay, Ray. She's strong, stronger than either of us."_

"_I know she is. I'm just so worried about her and what kind of junk those bastards might have pumped into her system. I swear to God that if you hadn't been there with me, I would've killed him right then and there. That man is pure evil," Ray spat out._

"_Chris? Chris? Are you okay?" Mike asked him. He looked at him concerned._

_Chris shook his head and said, "Yeah, sorry about that, I kinda spaced out for a few seconds."_

"_Do you want to tell me what it is that you were just thinking about?" Mike asked._

_Chris thought for a second and then said, "Do you remember the day that Ray and I rushed Emily here? It was about a year and a half ago, and she was unconscious."_

_Mike looked at Chris and said, "Of course I remember, I don't think that I will ever forget that day. Why do you ask?"_

"…_We had just found her…she had been being held captive."_

"_By who?" Mike asked, having a very good idea of who it was._

"_Stephano Dimera," Chris muttered, like it was a curse word. _

"_How did I know you were going to say that?" Mike asked, shaking his head._

"_Because that man is pure evil; that man doesn't have blood running through his veins, he has venom." _

"_Normally, I would disagree, because medically, that's obviously not true. But in this case, I most definitely agree," Mike said._

_Chris just shook his head at the doctors' words. He looked at the room his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law were sitting in. "I feel so bad for Emily. She's been through so much already and now this too? She doesn't deserve it; she doesn't deserve any of this."_

_Mike nodded his head in agreement. A nurse walked over to them and said, "Here are those test results Dr. Horton."_

"_Thank you, Amanda. I've been waiting for these," Mike said. The nurse nodded her head and walked away. Mike looked at the front page of the packet he had been handed and then flipped through to the next one. He shook his head and frowned. "Excuse me, Chris. I need to go see another patient. Please let me know if anything happens with Emily." _

"_Of course, Mike; and thank you for everything you've done to help us out."_

"_Anytime, Chris; I care about Emily and Ray like they were my own niece and nephew." Mike smiled at Chris and then started walking down the hall to another examining room. Chris stood up and decided to go look for Ozzie. He went out into the ambulance bay and found Ozzie sitting in the drivers' seat of the ambulance. "Hey, what are you doing out here?"_

"_Just waiting for you. How's that girl doing?" Ozzie asked._

"_She's still unconscious."_

"_How do you know her, by the way? You acted like you know her and that guy with her really well."_

"_That's because he's my brother and she's his fiancée."_

"_Oh. That sucks. Is she going to be okay?" Ozzie asked._

"_I hope so man, I really hope so. They still can't figure out what's wrong with her."_

"_Chris!" _

_Chris turned around and saw Lily and Scott walking up to him carrying the girls in their carriers. "Hey!"_

"_How is she?" Scott asked when they had gotten over to the ambulance. _

"_She's still unconscious. Or she was half an hour ago when I was in there. You guys should go in and see her. Ray has been in with her since they got here and I'm sure that he would love to see the girls." Chris knelt down and kissed his nieces on their foreheads. "Hi, girls. Uncle Chris has to go back to work now. Love you!" He ran a hand over Dakota's head and then turned to Ozzie. "We've gotta get back to the firehouse. I'm sure that we've got work to do there." He turned back to Lily and Scott and said, "Call me if anything changes, ok?"_

"_Of course honey. Oh! Have you called our parents yet? They were out this morning when all of this happened."_

"_No, I thought that you guys would've done that."_

"_It's okay; I'll call them from the payphone inside. Go back to work, we'll see you later."_

"_Okay, bye." Chris walked over to the passenger side of the ambulance and climbed in. Ozzie started the truck up and waited for Lily and Scott to pass in front of him until he started to drive away. _

"_Are those little girls your nieces?" Ozzie asked. _

"_Yeah, and Lily and Scott are Emily's brother and sister."_

"_Lily's pretty hot," Ozzie commented._

"_Dude, she's only 17. Stay away from her for at least a couple of more years."_

"_Oh, she looks much older," Ozzie said._

"_Well, she's not and she's like a sister to me, so just stay away from her."_

"_Whatever dude, all's I said was that she's hot. It's not like I'm planning on jumping her bones or something."_

"_You better not. You're a good guy, but you are way too old for her."_

"_Yeah, yeah, I know. Shut up and let me drive." Ozzie said jokingly. Chris just chuckled. _

_Inside, Lily and Scott were standing at the reception desk, trying to get information out of the obstinate nurse that was in charge. "Lady, she's our sister. We need to know what's going on and we want to know right now!" Scott demanded._

"_SCOTT. Stop yelling. You're scaring Dakota and Tessie!" Lily admonished her older brother. "Look, lady, our sister's name is Emily Watson, she is 22 years old, and she was rushed in here this morning because she had passed out and hit her head."_

"_Are you a blood relative?" the nurse asked. _

"_YES! She is our SISTER. These are her daughters," Scott said, pointing to the babies. "Her fiancé came in the ambulance with her. Alls we want to know is where her room is."_

"_Look, I can't tell you without getting permission from the doctor that is on her case. Let me see if I can find him," the nurse said. _

"_Why didn't you just say that instead-"_

"_Enough, Scott. Come sit down. We'll wait until we see Dr. Horton and find out from __him_ what's going on," Lily said. They went and sat down on the benches that Ray had been sitting on a few hours earlier. About 5 minutes later, they saw Mike Horton walk back into the waiting room and put what looked like a clipboard on the reception desk. "Mike!" Lily called. He turned around and smiled.

"_Hello Lily, Scott. What are you guys still doing out here? I thought you would have been in the exam room with Ray when you first got here."_

_Lily watched as the color drained out of the nurse's face and said, "Its okay, the nurse at the reception desk was just following protocol. She told us that we would have to wait until she got clearance from you to let us in."_

"_Oh! Yeah, that's no problem, go right ahead. Its exam room one." _

"_Thanks, Mike," Lily said. She and Scott picked up the baby carriers and walked towards the exam room. Lily stopped short and gasped, "Oh my God!!!"_

_I know, I know; I'm evil. But I will only continue if you hit that little purple button down there and give me a review! Reviews make me a very happy person! Please make me happy!!! …please??? Pretty please???_


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